Liam swept Mac into motion, muffling her against his chest so thoroughly that virtually all she could see was the cloth of her hood and his coat. She was uninterested in offering the faintest protest. His strong, masculine scent was almost soothing. She closed her eyes and let herself be carried along, past knots and eddies of chattering guests and out of the echoing space of the Grand Court.
When Mac risked another glimpse of their surroundings, they were in a pillared hallway punctuated by gaslights and potted palms. The bellhop led them through a door and into a richly upholstered, windowless room. The room lurched and began to move, and Mac realized they were in an elevator. The thing was carpeted, mirrored, ornate, and empty of other passengers except for the bellhop with her bag and the operator in the corner.
It was certainly no modern express elevator, but at length they reached whatever floor Liam had requested. He hustled her out and into another hall with a gallery along one side, undoubtedly one of those Mac had seen overlooking the rotunda. She heard the bellhop’s low-voiced comment, and there was the sound of a key turning in a lock.
Liam got rid of the bellhop with a jingle of coins and a terse dismissal. The door slammed. Mac felt herself set down on a bed—a large one, from the feel of it. A heavy weight pulled the mattress down beside her; she could feel the heat of Liam’s body through her cloak.
He pushed the hood away from her face, calloused fingers brushing her cheek. “How are you feeling now, Mac?”
She propped herself up on her elbows, testing her dizziness. It was fading rapidly. Liam’s arm supported the small of her back, warm and strong.
“A lot better, thanks,” she said. “I guess it was the strangeness hitting me all at once.”
“Too much grandeur for you?” he asked, tucking layers of pillows around her until she could hardly move. “I warned you that civilization could be dangerous.” He vanished for a moment and returned with a crystal glass of water, which she was glad enough to have. Her mouth had gone dry as a bone.
The place was a showpiece of Victorian excess, replete with richly polished woods, sumptuous fabrics and lavish decoration. It was big, high-ceilinged, and worthy of royalty. Mac knew she didn’t belong here.
The walls were painted a delicate peach, with wallpaper ticked in tiny flowers. That was the single concession to subtlety. The floor was sleek-grained wood, covered by an Oriental carpet that looked too expensive to walk on. The bed on which she sat was a carved mahogany Eastlake half-tester, made up with a quilted satin bedcover and piled with gaudy fringed pillows, more than enough to suffocate under.
Against one of the two plainer walls stood a mahogany wardrobe and matching dressing table complete with a gilt mirror and a delicate cushioned chair. A rolltop desk was positioned at the other wall, and an additional cheval mirror stood in the corner. Two more overstuffed chairs upholstered in burgundy and brown were arranged in front of a marble fireplace, already occupied by a crackling fire. Heavy drapes swept down in graceful arcs from wide bay windows.
There was even an electric clock on the mantel. Mac had almost forgotten how to tell time, she’d been so long without her watch. The clock was comfortingly ordinary.
“I don’t suppose,” she said, “that there’s a bathroom in here too. Er—a water closet?”
Liam pointed toward the rear of the room.
Sure enough, there was a half-open door she hadn’t noticed. They had toilets by 1884, didn’t they? She hadn’t seen any in Guatemala, but then again Liam hadn’t paused in any populated area long enough for her to find out. And there would surely be a bathtub—good Lord, a soak would be paradise after weeks on shipboard and traveling through the wilderness, snatching quick and modest baths in rivers or settling for a hasty sponging.
“I trust you find the accommodations satisfactory?” Liam asked.
“It’s beautiful. Thank you.”
“Then I must go.”
She was startled into full attention. This was happening too fast. If he was planning to leave her already…